Bahrain Victorious target podium in Tour of the Alps
Italian climber Antonio Tiberi, last year's third-place finisher, returns as team leader alongside veteran Damiano Caruso, a 2021 Giro runner-up. Sports director Gorazd Štangelj confirmed Tiberi's role as the squad's GC contender, with Caruso providing tactical support. 'This race is a dress rehearsal for the Giro,' Štangelj said. 'We want another podium to confirm we're on track.'
The route opens with a brutal 148km stage featuring two major climbs, setting the tone for a week of relentless ascents. Young riders Afonso Eulálio and Kasper Borremans will assist Tiberi in the mountains, while Fran Miholjevic and Finlay Pickering handle flat sections and breakaways. Stage 4, the 'Queen Stage,' is expected to be decisive, with steep climbs culminating in a punishing finale.
The Tour of the Alps runs from April 15-19, ahead of the Giro d'Italia's May 10 start. The race concludes in Austria's Lienz after a short but brutal 112km stage featuring double-digit gradients.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Tribune
3 days ago
- Daily Tribune
Zverev returns strong in Toronto
Alexander Zverev made a storming return after a month away from tennis on Tuesday, with the top seed pounding out a 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 win over Adam Walton to reach the third round of the ATP Toronto Masters. The German top seed, who lost in the Wimbledon first round, has spent the last weeks dealing with mental burnout and also made a trip to Rafael Nadal's Mallorca academy for consultations and perhaps some career advice during his time away. The ATP world number three came from 4-1 down in the opening set tiebreaker and did not face a break point until he found himself down 0-40 as he tried to serve out victory leading a set and 5-3. Though he lost that game, the German immediately broke back, with his Australian opponent double-faulting on a Zverev match point. His victory included a massive 52-shot rally, with the triumph put ting Zverev on 499 wins f o r his career. 'Some - times it's just about winning,' Zverev said. 'It was not the prettiest match, though.' The 2017 champion in Canada will now play Italian Matteo Arnaldi, who defeated qualifier Tristan Schoolkate 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti and number five Holger Rune both eased into action with comfortable straight set wins. The pair began after byes and wasted little time in advancing into the third round, with Musetti hammering Australian qualifier James Duckworth 7-5, 6-1. Rune dispatched big hitter Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 7-6 (9/7), 6-3. Number eight Casper Ruud put out Roman Safiullin 6-3, 6-3 for another seeded win. The event is missing the absolute cream of the player field, with both number one Jannik Sinner and second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz out with injury and fatigue issues. Musetti, a former semi-finalist at both Wimbledon and Roland Garros, was ruthless with Duckworth, advancing in 82 minutes. He broke for a set and 5-1 on his opponent's double-fault and finished up a game later with an ace. The Italian is coming back into form after losing his only grass match of the summer (Wimbledon) and then going down last week in his Washington opening match. His last victory came in early June in the Roland Garros quarters. Musetti had 17 winners while Duckworth was undone by more than 30 unforced errors. The Italian next faces American Alex Michelsen, a 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 winner over Chilean qualifier Tomas Barrios Vera. Rune, who was back in action a month after a first-round Wimbledon defeat, handed French Mpetshi Perricard a fourth career loss against top 10 players. Denmark's four-time finalist at the Masters level produced his first hardcourt win since last March at Indian Wells. 'It was a very tricky first match for me, he's a big server and (there was) not a lot of rhythm in the match,' Rune said after his 75-minute win. 'I had to really take care of my own serve, and then just look for the opportunities. 'It was about finding a way to win at the end of the (first set) tiebreak. 'In the second set I was pretty good when it mattered. I think I was serving very well today.' World number nine Rune limited his unforced errors to just 10 -- less than half of those struck by his opponent. Elsewhere, 11th seed Karen Khachanov beat Juan Pablo Ficovich of Argentina 6-4, 6-2. Last year's winner in Canada, Alexei Popyrin, defeated local wild card Nicolas Arseneault 7-6 (9/7), 6-3. Canadian Denis Shapovalov continued his unlucky home streak taking a 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 loss to Learner Tien and extending a losing run dating to 2019 at home. Tenth-seeded former champion Daniil Medvedev got through his opening match and will next face Popyrin after a 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 win against Czech lucky loser Dalibor Svrcina, ended with more than 40 unforced errors.
Gulf Weekly
4 days ago
- Gulf Weekly
Antonelli paying price for ‘wrong steps' by Mercedes
Mercedes have made mistakes in developing their Formula One car and teenage Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli's struggles are a consequence of that, according to technical director James Allison. Antonelli, 18, finished third in Canada in June for his first F1 podium but has since failed to score. He has had two retirements since Montreal as well as 17th in a sprint race in Belgium last Saturday and then 16th in Sunday's main grand prix. The Italian, who took a sprint pole in Miami and is the sport's youngest ever race leader, has retired four times in the last seven rounds and admitted in Belgium he was lacking confidence in the car and not driving as he would like. 'I think he's, like the rest of us, massively fed up with a string of results that are well below what we were collectively achieving earlier in the year,' Allison said in an interview. 'I hope he takes some solace from the fact that we tell him, and it's demonstrably a fact, that we have taken the wrong steps with the car, making our team less competitive, and that he is paying the price for that, as is George (Russell). 'If the car isn't where it needs to be, then it will be a struggle getting through the qualifying stages in your rookie season in F1.' Allison said it was 'utterly clear' to everyone that the car needed to be better and Antonelli's fortunes would improve when it was. 'Hopefully he's listening to us as we say those reassuring words because we absolutely know that he is putting in the effort on his side of that bargain,' he added. Mercedes are third overall, 28 points behind second-placed Ferrari, with one win by Russell in Canada. Russell has been on the podium five times and is fourth overall with 157 points to Antonelli's 63. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, whose seat Antonelli took when the Briton moved to Ferrari, showed his support for the Italian after Saturday qualifying at Spa. 'He was telling me to keep my head up, and that it's normal to have bad weekends, and to just keep believing,' the Italian told reporters. Hamilton told Sky Sports television he could not imagine what the rookie was going through. 'He's been doing fantastic. But to be thrown in at the deep end at 18... he hadn't even had his driving licence when he first started racing,' he said.
Daily Tribune
19-07-2025
- Daily Tribune
Martin returns for Czech MotoGP
AFP | Brno Reigning world champion Jorge Martin of Spain will return to racing at the Czech MotoGP this weekend as the Brno circuit hosts its first grand prix since 2020. Marc Marquez is threatening to run away with the title after four straight wins, which have allowed the Spaniard to open up a sizeable gap at the top. The 32-year-old factory Ducati rider has 344 points after 11 of 22 races, and he has won both the sprint and the main race on seven occasions. His younger brother Alex, on a Gresini Ducati, is second with 261 points, ahead of Marc's Italian teammate Francesco Bagnaia -- the 2022 and 2023 world champion -- with 197. But it is Martin, who has yet to score his first point this season, that will likely steal the limelight on the circuit in the second Czech city of Brno. Martin sat out the first three races following two pre-season crashes and when he returned at Qatar in April, he crashed heavily again and missed the next seven races. 'I feel prepared. In terms of the physical condition, I feel better than any time in my life for sure,' the 27-year-old Martin said having recovered from 11 broken ribs. 'I took profit of this time off to work on my performance, and I feel I am a better and more prepared rider now,' he added. 'I don't want to speculate on results... What I can say is that I'm here to compete, I'm not here to make laps. I'm here to do my best.' Martin also said on Thursday he would stay with Aprilia for the 2026 season, dispelling doubts about his future. He had been at odds with the Italian manufacturer after initially saying he intended to activate a release clause in his contract at the end of the season. Brno is returning to the MotoGP calendar for the first time since 2020 after years of financial woes. 'Two seconds faster' Marquez, who stretched his championship lead after a perfect weekend at the Sachsenring in Germany, hailed Martin's return. 'Good for MotoGP, good for the championship, good for Aprilia and especially good for him to be back on track,' he told 'Of course it will take time. You never know with Martin, but he will be fast in the second part of the season.' Marquez has won three MotoGP races at Brno, in 2013, 2017 and 2019, but he sat out the last edition in 2020 with a broken arm as Brad Binder stunned the pack to take his maiden MotoGP win. Marquez holds the fastest lap time of 1min 54.596sec from 2016 and will be looking to improve it on the resurfaced 5.4-kilometre track as forecasters promise a mostly sunny weekend. 'It looks like some manufacturers tested two or three weeks ago and yeah, it looks like they were already two seconds faster,' Marquez said. He is eyeing his seventh MotoGP world title -- and first since 2019 -- that would put him level with the legendary Valentino Rossi. Maverick Vinales, recovering from a shoulder fracture, will be replaced by Pol Espargaro at Brno, while Franco Morbidelli is also out following a bone-crunching crash in Germany. The MotoGP circus will take a summer break after this weekend and resume with the Austrian GP on August 15-17.
